Review emerging standards of culturally competent care Research Paper

Review emerging standards of culturally competent care - Research Paper Example This is possible only if health professionals are sensitive enough to demonstrate respect toward the different values, beliefs, and practices of one’s counterparts (Cherry & Jacob, 2005, p.246). The writers also insist on the need of taking responsibility ‘to inquire, learn about, and integrate beliefs and values of others in professional encounters’ so that it would change one’s negative prejudicial behavior. This paper will evaluate the significance of developing cultural competence in nursing care especially in critical care settings like Intensive care units (ICU) where proficient care is highly crucial. What is Culturally Competent Care? Health care is a very sensitive area of service where people often confront with long standing disparities on the basis of culture, tradition, nationality, ethnicity, language, and socio-economic status. ‘Culturally Competent Care’ is the modern perception that has been developed to address health and huma n service issues in a multicultural social environment. In other words, the modern world requires collective responses of doctors, nurses, and other care givers to patient’s varying attitudes, values, verbal indications, and many more; which is possible only by initiating cultural sensitivity as a new dimension of clinical specialization like age and gender. In order to be culturally competent, nurse needs to obtain cultural information with intent to apply that knowledge into practice while they encounter various sorts of ethnic and cultural differences. The major objective of this knowledge acquisition is to avoid stereotyping patients on the basis of their race, culture, or any external appearance. The logic behind this approach is that high-quality outcome can be derived from culturally competent care. When doctors and nurses familiarize themselves with the cultural perceptions and practices of patient, normally it would make a positive impact on treatment results and pat ient satisfaction. Why cultural competence in nursing? As mentioned in the introduction, cultural diversity has become the major facet of almost every developed nation. Therefore, in order to meet the specific needs of people with different cultural background, the nursing care given should be culturally competent. Health care industry reform has been a hot button issue for several decades in the United Sates. Although several attempts have been made to equalize care delivery across the nation, as critics comment, all were defeated by unethical medical-political coalition. Culture influences people’s perception of illness and their causes, the way they seek health care, their approaches to medical treatments, and how they respond to health care providers. Therefore, health providers especially nurses need to obtain skills to act according to the health behaviors of the clients. Infant death and pregnancy loss is an ongoing problem in the United States of America. Studies show the noticeable racial and community based disparities in infant death rates. This situation points to the need of equal delivery of health care services to everyone regardless the race, culture, or community. According to the AAN Expert Panel Report (1992) culturally competent nursing care should follow mainly four principles; 1) care is designed for the specific client 2) based on the uniqueness of the